Zach LaVine didn’t play in the Las Vegas Summer League, but he did play in the Seattle Pro-Am, and boy did he put on a show.
The 49 points he dropped were impressive enough, but the manner in which he scored them was the cherry on top. LaVine had his share of his normally spectacular dunks.
But then he hit back-to-back-TO-back threes, a nice little turnaround after shaking his defender. In his rookie campaign, LaVine shot 34.1 percent from beyond the three-point arc, so the ease of his motion from deep could be a harbinger of a good things in his second season.
But it was the double-clutch three-pointer to win the game at the buzzer that naturally caused the youngster to strike a pose.
LaVine had a pretty up and down rookie season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, struggling with the steep learning curve it takes to become an NBA point guard while also playing the off-guard. His decision-making needs to improve, as does his strength, but there are a ton of wiry 19-year-olds who mature into an NBA bodies.
During the Seattle Pro-Am, the same place where he dazzled last summer, LaVine wasn’t thinking about his first-year struggles, though.
This is what happens when you let someone as athletically gifted as LaVine simply play. Of course, it also helps he’s vastly more talented and athletic than any other player on the court.
